I realize this is not news as the ice sheets have been melting for a while. Still, it's an interesting trail to climb up. (I wanted to use the "rabbit hole" metaphor, but it didn't sound right.) Wikipedia has a list of 297 climbers who died on Mount Everest alone. Many more have died on the other 8000+ feet high Himalyan mountains. Many want to be left there in the ice surrounded by snow. Intact. But what if the ice melted?
I'd ask hubski where they wanted to leave their bodies - but spring is coming and time to watch hopefully for cardinals and robins.
Why the melting Everest caught my attention today is that I frequently remind myself that the polar icecaps are melting. In other words, let's focus on what is really important. I have not thought much about the ice sheets and glaciers of the Himalayas that are also melting.
This led me to wonder about Mount Baker visible from Vancouver and to discover this
oh.
Climate change will be particularly benign to the Pacific Northwest if NOAA models are even close to correct. Not harmless, but temperature will go up a little and precipitation will increase. It's the precipitation that's causing the glacial increase on Baker if I'm not mistaken.
As to global warming in general, the first real glimpse of this was Otzi, who melted out of a glacier in 1991.
The dead of Everest are landmarks. They're used for navigation in some cases.
In my opinion, Peak Thoughtful on climbing is in the thread below. Everyone was civil except me.